A business investor provides some or all of the funding you need to get your small business off of the ground. In exchange, you'll give up a portion of your business or agree to a repayment plan with the company. An investor takes a risk that a small business lender doesn't—if the business fails he loses his investment. When you approach investors make sure you have a viable concept and a solid plan in place.

1.

Create a business proposal for your new company. This is one of the most important keys to finding investors—you need to provide detailed information about your plan for starting, implementing, running and growing the business. Present this plan to each potential investor. See Resources for an outline for a business plan template tool from the Small Business Administration.

2.

Talk to family and friends to see if you can find investors among your personal circle first. Present your business plan in a professional manner even if you only want to ask for $100 from each person. Call a meeting if possible so that you can discuss your plan with everyone at once.

3.

Visit your local Chamber of Commerce to ask if the association has a resource to direct you to local investors interested in working with small businesses (See Resources).

Check an angel investor network to find investors for your small business. Angels are individuals and other businesses interested in helping out small businesses with funding. Create a professional profile explaining your needs and describing your business for angels to browse. If interested, an angel investor will contact you for more information.

About the Author

Louise Balle has been writing Web articles since 2004, covering everything from business promotion to topics on beauty. Her work can be found on various websites. She has a small-business background and experience as a layout and graphics designer for Web and book projects.

Photo Credits

Comstock/Stockbyte/Getty Images

bibliography-iconicon for annotation tool Cite this Article

Choose Citation Style

Balle, Louise. "Finding Investors for Small Businesses." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/finding-investors-small-businesses-2488.html. Accessed 15 September 2019.

Balle, Louise. (n.d.). Finding Investors for Small Businesses. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/finding-investors-small-businesses-2488.html